Part I

Origins and Growth

Rodeo was born during the 1860s and 1870s with informal contests held among working cowboys. Common at seasonal roundups, such "cowboy fun" tested typical skills like bronc riding and steer roping. Between 1890 and 1910, rodeo emerged as public entertainment through various Wild West Shows and performances at Fourth of July celebrations and cattlemen's conventions.

Rodeo came to be recognized as a competitive spectator sport during the first decades of the twentieth century. Annual stampedes, roundups and frontier days events attracted regional audiences and contestants throughout the West. By the mid-1920s, championship events at Boston Garden and New York City's Madison Square Garden were drawing nationwide attention to the new sport.

Promoters and Contractors

Rodeo moved from cowboy sport to public entertainment through the efforts of early promoters. In the spirit of Wild West Show entrepreneurs, these men saw the opportunity of making rodeo a distinctively American pageant. Their vision, organizational ability and funding helped popularize the sport far beyond its western origins. Today, such individual promoters have been replaced largely by local rodeo committees.

An integral part of rodeo since the early twentieth century, contractors supply the horses, bulls, steers and calves which are essential to the sport. Rodeo contractors must be sound and energetic businessmen, as well as excellent judges of livestock. Today, there are nearly fifty stock contractors providing spirited animals for the more than 600 Professional Cowboys Rodeo Association (PRCA) sanctioned rodeos held in the United States each year.

Organization

Founded in 1929, the Rodeo Association of America (RAA) was a body of managers and promoters which brought structure to rodeo programming. The RAA sanctioned events, selected judges and established purse awards and point systems to determine all-around champions. Since 1946 the organization has acted as the International Rodeo Association (IRA).

Rodeo contestants remained independent and unorganized until 1936, when a stalwart group formed the Cowboys Turtle Association (CTA) during a strike at the Boston Garden World Championship. The CTA sought larger purse awards, competent judges and application of uniform rules throughout the rodeo system. In 1945 the CTA became the Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA), and was retitled the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) in 1975.

Women in Rodeo

While men traditionally have dominated the sport, women were prominent performers in rodeo during the first half of this century. As both rough stock and trick riders (some even tried bulldogging), their ability and daring attracted enthusiastic audiences. Beginning in the 1930s, however, female contestants increasingly were restricted to race and trick riding.

As rodeo became more professional in the 1950s, women declined in number and prominence within the sport. Showmanship gradually was overshadowed by concerns for fast action and increased earnings. Today, female participation in rodeo, under the auspices of the Women's Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA), centers on barrel racing, a timed event with prize moneys in excess of a half million dollars annually.

Trick Riders and Fancy Ropers

Unknown to many of today's rodeo fans, trick riding and fancy roping were popular, contested events during the 1920s and 1930s. Based on Wild West spectaculars, these competitions required athletes with skills beyond those of the normal rodeo cowboy. After 1933, however, such exhibitions became contract entertainment and gradually lost their popularity and place in the sport.

Trick riding, which demanded calm, steady-gaited horses and daring, acrobatic contestants, was adapted in rodeo programming largely from the stunts of Cossack performers in the Wild West shows. By contrast, trick and fancy roping originated almost entirely among the Charro riders of Old Mexico and was introduced into the United States around 1900 by Vincente Oropeza (1975 Rodeo Hall inductee).

Designed for acrobatics on horseback, the trick riding saddle incorporates a number of special features. The extended hom allows a central handhold for moving into, and recovering from maneuvers like the "pass under" and the "Russian drag." Handholds behind the cantle are for crupper tricks such as the "roll-up" off the rear of the horse. And the various support straps allow control in dramatic layover and standing stunts.

Trick and fancy ropers usually employ two types of ropes for different types of stunts. Catching ropes are made of stiff maguey fiber (from a species of Mexican aleo plant) for control in tossing large loops like the "ocean wave" and the "figure eight." Spinning ropes, by contrast, are made of soft braided cotton for smooth motion in making patterns like the "Spanish flat," "butterfly loop" and "zig zag."

Professionalism

Between 1950 and 1970, continuing growth and organization brought professionalism to rodeo. The formation of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) in 1948 laid the groundwork for an expanding pool of skilled contestants. And the inauguration of the National Finals Rodeo in 1959 provided the ultimate arena for deciding annual all-around and individual event champions.

During the 1950s and 1960s, better management, greater attention from the sports media and increases in scheduled events, purses and attendance brought dramatic changes to rodeo. With such incentives and improved transportation, many contestants went "on the circuit" full-time, evolving from occasional performers to professional athletes of national stature.

Rodeo continued to organize through the 1940s and 1950s. Association publications like Hoofs and Homs and The Buckboard helped create a common identity among the sport's many participants. During the Second World War, many outstanding rodeo contestants joined the armed forces. The sport continued, however, as a patriotic fund raising event in support of the war effort. Rodeo gear, and the rules for its use, continued to be refined. In particular, saddle design was significantly influenced by the needs of roping contestants.

The 1950s are known as the "Golden Age of Rodeo" because great champions like Jim Shoulders, Casey Tibbs, Bill Linderman and Harry Tompkins dominated the sport. In recent decades, training camps, such as those run by Jim Shoulders and Larry Mahan, have contributed to the development and excellence of professional rodeo athletes.

The increasing professionalism, prominence and earnings of rodeo have created a "new breed of cowboys" who are well-traveled and well-educated, articulate and enterprising. As with other professional athletes, rodeo contestants have turned to physical conditioning and modern sports medicine to maintain a competitive edge over a year-long season.

Big Business

During the 1960s and 1970s, television created a financial and spectator explosion in rodeo. Commercial sponsorship now amounts to some eight million dollars annually, with more than two million in direct prize money. Prominent corporate sponsors include Justin Boot Company, Wrangler Western Wear, Adolph Coors Company, U.S. Tobacco Company and Hesston Farm Equipment Company.

Overall attendance and the number of sanctioned events and contestants have markedly increased as well. Today, more than 650 PRCA events are held each year, attracting an audience in the millions. Ranking contestants compete in more than 100 rodeos per year for total prize money in excess of twelve million dollars plus a variety of valuable awards.